wendy david

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Eight hours, and testimony from 29 people later, the City Council has crafted a new ordinance that attempts to strike a balance between locals and vacation home rentals (VHRs).

"While tourism is the lifeblood in our town, the residents are the heart and soul," said SLT City Councilman Jason Collin.

Passionate testimony from all sides was presented at Tuesday's meeting as has been the case for the 20+ meetings on the subject of VHRs.

The direction from the City Council to staff is to create an ordinance that will contain the following:

I read with great interest Mayor Sass’s recent editorial of how he and Wendy David have been living, sleeping, and eating the VHR issue for over 2 years. I internalized these words and reflected how we, as responsible vacation home rental managers, have been dealing with inept City Councils and City Management for over 12 years.

There is no need to rush into an ordinance regulating the sale of marijuana in South Lake Tahoe. That was the overwhelming opinion of the SLT City Council Tuesday night after a special, four-hour long Cannabis Workshop.

"We owe it to our community to make sure we take every measure to protect them," said SLT Mayor Austin Sass.

The Zalanta Resort at the Village celebrated the completion of their first phase Tuesday with a grand opening and ribbon cutting for local dignitaries.

On what was formerly known as "the hole," Zalanta is the first whole ownership luxury condominium residences in the Lake Tahoe Basin since Lakeland Village was completed 30 years ago.

The 30 residences are all one-story and available in 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom units. The cheapest unit, priced at $950,000, and the most expensive at $2.125M have both sold as well as several other residences. The second phase will add another 60 residences.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. – Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless hosted over 100 people at the second South Lake Tahoe Warm Room Open House event on February 22, 2017. We were proud to honor City Councilwoman Wendy David for her participation in the establishment of the Warm Room. David was facilitator of the Lake Tahoe Collaborative when a committee was established to create a vision and a plan for the Warm Room. Her support through nonprofit collaboration and in her role at the City of South Lake Tahoe has been greatly appreciated by all at TCH who have had the honor to work with her.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. – The Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless invites the South Shore community to attend their second annual Warm Room Open House on Wednesday, February 22 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at 2179 Lake Tahoe Boulevard, South Lake Tahoe. The Warm Room provides overnight refuge from the elements in a safe and warm environment for adult men and women who are experiencing homelessness.

The Open House offers visitors a chance to tour the 2016-2017 space of operation, to meet volunteers and Board members, and to ask questions about the program and homelessness in our community.

On behalf of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, I would like to thank Barton Health employees and physicians for their incredible generosity.

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) would like to thank the City of South Lake Tahoe for their preparedness in the face of severe weather last week. As one volunteer commented, “Everyone at the City of South Lake Tahoe was very nice, helpful, and willing.”

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - I could not be more honored and excited to represent this community as your Mayor. Having served on City Council for two years, I have learned that there are deeply passionate and extremely knowledgeable citizens and fellow council members who care immensely about our community and the decisions made by our City.

The South Lake Tahoe Endowment Cabinet awarded $50,000 to South Lake Tahoe area non-profits and schools during a recent reception at South Tahoe High School.

Wendy David, the Cabinet Chair, awarded the grants to an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd.

Private donors fund the Foundation with money to be given back to the community in the form of grants.

Hal Cole, the longest serving City Councilmember in South Lake Tahoe, was honored in a ceremony during Tuesday's Council meeting, his last one after 20.5 years on the dais.

Cole chose not to run for a sixth term this November.

He started off his public service career in 1990 when he was named to the SLT Building Board of Appeals, was a part of the development of the Bijou Community Plan in 1993 as a Planning Commission. In 1994, Cole moved over to the City Council and was elected to a four-year term five times. During that tenure he was the City's Mayor an unprecedented six times.

Measure P, the two percent raise in transient occupancy tax for lodging properties in the City limits, has passed by a fairly large margin. With 100 percent of the precincts counted, a "yes" vote of 3,214 to 1,537 has passed by a 35.30 percent difference in the unofficial results.

The measure will use the funds raised by the extra tax to support recreational improvements in the City. A new recreation center, competitive pool and ball courts are in the plans.

Measure P will be a key initiative on the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Nov. 8 ballot as a tourist-only tax to help rebuild the area’s aging Recreation Center.

Without raising taxes on local residents and businesses, Measure P will bring an estimated extra $2 million a year to support the community. The Lodging Association has voted unanimously to support further recreation in South Lake Tahoe. If passed by a two-thirds vote, Measure P will increase transient occupancy tax by 2 percent to 12 percent.

Sculptor Gareth Curtiss, the artist chosen to create the bronze statue in South Lake Tahoe's Champions Plaza, unveiled the design during Tuesday'st City Council meeting.

The five to ten foot sculpture represents a flame with three men coming out of it to reach the golden ring, much like children reaching for the brass ring on a historic merry-go-round.

The ring at the top, about 18" in size, will be the top of the 1,500 pound bronze creation that Curtiss will create in his studios in Montana.

The doors opened at all seven schools in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Monday, welcoming students back after their summer vacations.

At Tahoe Valley Elementary, not only were the doors opened, but the red carpet was rolled out, literally. Staff and members of the California Highway Patrol greeted students as they entered the school with fanfare and balloon in celebration of their return.

Not only did the students enjoy the processional, but parents, staff and officers did as well.

For the past 18 months, South Lake Tahoe City Councilwoman JoAnn Conner and the City have been at odds since she filed two lawsuits against them on December 9, 2015.

During Tuesday's Council meeting, Mayor Wendy David made the following announcement about the potential end of the legal matters after both sides met with a mediator on June 14:

There will soon be a new ordinance in the City of South Lake Tahoe that will regulate massages, massage establishments and massage therapists.

"We will be raising the level of standards to legitimize the industry," said Mayor Wendy David.

There are currently 125 licensed massage therapists in the City, and an unknown number of people who are not. The new ordinance will be in place to make all comply and be licensed therapists in 90 days, or they cannot conduct business.

The City of South Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe Unified School District, Lake Tahoe Community College and South Tahoe Public Utility District have all released advertisements, press releases and emails to the public, looking for candidates for their open seats this election season.

There will be two open seats for City Council, three seats for LTUSD School Board of Trustees, two for LTCC Board of Trustees, and two for the STPUD Board of Directors. All will be voted on during the next election, November 8, 2016.

"This is fantastic," said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David. "We get to show our visitors what a great sense of community we have."

Just as it is when the topic of vacation rentals is on the South Lake Tahoe City Council agenda, a large, and at times, angry, crowd gathered.

The task at hand Tuesday was to review changes to the current Vacation Home Rental (VHR) Ordinance which included 11 changes which will take effect 30 days after the June 7 Council meeting if approved.

To televise or not televise, that was the question in front of the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Tuesday, April 19. While live streaming of the Council meetings is not required by law, it is something the City has done on both the internet and television since May, 2007.

The agenda item was added after discussion arose during the April 5 meeting when Mayor Wendy David asked that they stop televising the public comment portion of the meetings. Her comment caught many by surprise, even by some of her Council members.

It has been about 18 months since the Cal Tahoe JPA voted to spend $192,000 on badly needed EKG monitors for the nine ambulances that serve the South Lake Tahoe and Meyers area. As of March 31, not a dime has been spent due to a division between the two fire departments that are part of the JPA.

"I don't want public safety to get in the way of politics," said SLT City Councilman Tom Davis at Thursday's emergency JPA meeting. Davis is one of two Council representatives on the JPA board. The other is Mayor Wendy David.

Twelve students from South Tahoe Middle School were honored for their essays during the annual Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra Writing Festival.

The students had a topic based on their grade level: seventh graders wrote about "Privacy vs. National Security," while the eighth graders were challenged with writing about who the 2016 female Presidential candidate should be, and why.

The winners:

Seventh Grade Read 180
1st - Brandon Hernandez
2nd - Karina Ibarra
3rd - Andrea Cortez

Seventh Grade
1st - Christopher Guerrero

The Knights Inn could be purchased by the City of South Lake Tahoe for $6 million should a grant be awarded them by the California Tahoe Conservancy. If that happens, the City would purchase, and then demolish, the motel located on Highway 50 near Ski Run Boulevard to make way for a new environmental and retail project.

There is grant money available through the CTC which the City will apply for. The funds come from the state's Proposition 1 Water Bond which was approved by voters in 2014 to authorize $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds for water projects.